Agatha Christie

When a murder mystery game is announced in the personal column of the village newspaper, all the residents of Little Paddocks plan to attend, but the parlor game quickly goes terribly wrong, prompting a visit from Miss Marple​.

The Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie's first mystery to feature the beloved investigator Miss Marple—as a dead body in a clergyman's study proves to the indomitable sleuth that no place, holy or otherwise, is a sanctuary from homicide.

Miss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks

...

"In the matchup of the century, four sleuths--including mystery writer Ariadne Oliver and the incomparable Hercule Poirot--have been invited to play bridge with four cunning criminals, each of whom had gotten away with murder. For the host, it is irresistible entertainment--until his own murder becomes part of the game."--back cover"

"Hercule Poirot rushes to France in response to an urgent and cryptic plea from a client. But the Belgian detective arrives just too late: the man who had summoned him is found dead on a golf course, stabbed in the back with a letter opener and wearing an ill-fitting coat with a mysterious love letter in its pocket. Strange circumstances multiply, culminating in the discovery of a second body stabbed with the same murder weapon. While the local authorities...

"Sheila Webb expected to find a respectable blind lady waiting for her at 19 Wilbraham Crescent - not the body of a middle-aged man sprawled across the living room floor. But when old Miss Pebmarsh denies sending for her in the first place, or of owning all the clocks that surround the body, it's clear that they are going to need a very good detective. "This crime is so complicated that it must be quite simple," declares Hercule Poirot. But there's...

Lymstock is a town with more than its share of shameful secrets- a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate mail causes only a minor stir. But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs. Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note says "I can't go on," but Miss Marple questions the coroner's verdict of suicide. Soon nobody is sure of anyone- as secrets stop being shameful and start becoming deadly.--From back cover.

"When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again--for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are missing. The prime suspect is Ruth's estranged husband, Derek. Yet Hercule Poirot is not convinced, so he stages an eerie reenactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board"--P....

"When the Beresford obtain an old house and its contents, Tuppence discovers a series of underlinings in a copy of The Black Arrow. When she writes down the letters, they spell out a very disturbing message: 'Mary Jordan did not die naturally.' After sixty years, Mary Jordan's enemies are still ready to kill"--Provided by publisher.

"The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: "I'd like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger." Yet under the searing heat of the Egyptian sun, nothing is ever quite...

Hercule Poirot is summoned when a young woman is accused of murdering her wealthy aunt's house companion.